Monday, March 28, 2016

Now that we've had our beauty sleep, we'd like to present some of the wonderfully and creatively turned out people we met at this year's Easter parade. (Reminder: click on photos to enlarge.)

It was a chilly day, and hard to dress for. We reluctantly dressed in wool, but other hardier souls came out in their finest springwear. We loved this woman in the yellow suit and hat (which she made herself).

We fell in love with this woman in her old turn-of-the-century style full length green velvet coat.

This woman looks great in her robin's egg blue suit with matching shoes.

Every year we look forward to seeing Elaine in a hat she designs and paints herself, each time with a New York theme. Our long-time followers will have seen many of Elaine's gorgeous hats. She estimated that she probably has painted 14 hats over the years.

Look how flawlessly this woman has styled herself. Everything is great. Love the tiny flash of yellow among all the red, too.

We ran into Patricia Fox along the way. Her boyfriend Howard was kind enough to take this picture.

photograph courtesy of Patricia Fox

Many paraders wear period clothing. Turn-of-the-century, as seen in the green coat above and the costume below, are popular choices, and reflect the early history of the parade.

More classic style. The hat, however, is by an Etsy milliner.

Love this outfit, which seems to reflect an 80s sensibility, and the great big colorful blossom on her hat.

It was no surprise when this woman told us she treated herself to a Paris hat. There are just some things the French will always take more seriously than we do. And thank goodness for that.

Although this woman was photographing everyone else, she herself was a most marvelous subject for a photo.

This dandelion hat gets a prize for greatest use of creativity in the realistic rendition of a flower.

A beautifully dressed couple.

We applaud these gents for turning out in jackets in vivid spring colors. Next year we hope to applaud them for turning out in jackets in vivid spring colors with matching hats.

Not only was Michael Broderick sporting a stunning suit on, but also wore a laser cut paper top hat of his own making. Can you make out the frolicking bunnies cut into the paper?

As always, the crowding was such that we were not always able to get a clear shot of the objects of our desire, but we had to include this gent in his brightly colored Marimekko-like flower print suit. Where did he get it???
Early in the day, we ran into this dapper young man with an orange check shirt and bow tie. He was in town from San Francisco and since he was a big Advanced Style fan, we alerted him to the fact that a bunch of older ladies were meeting at 1 PM on the corner of 5th Avenue at East 50th Street, on the south side of St. Patrick's.

A fixture at the parade is this lovely couple. They always dress up for the occasion to stroll the avenue and she always carries a beautiful bouquet. On this occasion, they were accompanied by a well-dressed young man in bowler hat, bow tie and spectator shoes.

We met Robert B. Dimmick aka the Etiquetteer at the parade and traded opinions about well-dressed members of the crowd versus those who embrace a more circus-like aesthetic. Do click on the link not only to get his take on the day's events but also acquaint yourself with a most interesting and entertaining blog.

For additional coverage of the parade through Denton Taylor's eyes, check out 40PlusStyle.com.

Photo courtesy of Denton Taylor and 40PlusStyle.com

Another group we always look forward to seeing is our friend Xtine and her posse who always embellish their hats for the parade.

Longtime readers may remember our affection for polka dots and conical hats and recall how we painted two vintage hats with red lacquer and affixed to them white quarter-sized polka dots. We loved the polka dot hats, black and white clothing, transparent parasols and bright red bags worn by these 8 happy individuals who seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely.

Some couples coordinated their looks and head gear, like this young pair.

Debonaire man about town Robert Bryan and his friend Suzanne always look divinely stylish in vintage clothing.

Artist Jane Folds in her signature red heart-shaped glasses, made the red feather hat she was wearing and brought one of her handmade marionettes (Lady Liberty) to the parade.

Artist Davey Mitchell never fails to make an entrance in intricately constructed outfits.

These architectural skyscraper hats were amazing, but were also most problematic in high winds.

It wouldn't be a parade without Zondra Foxx in vintage hat, coat, dress, gloves, jewelry and bag. Loved her placement of the ring over her glove.

This gentleman not only elaborately adorned his own top hat and tie, but also that of his canine companion.

The next generation: fascinators and fans! This trio was "dressed to the nines". While we were both chilly and glad to be wearing wool coats, these two glamour-pusses showed us to be wimps, wearing their gowns with just long gloves or a sweater.

Sunday, March 27, 2016

We were out and about photographing people on Fifth Avenue today in their Easter bonnets with all the frills upon its (er, them), and now we're ready to faint on our fainting couches. If you come back tomorrow night, we'll have all our Easter lovelies up for you to enjoy. In the meantime, Happy Easter!

Sunday, March 20, 2016

Once upon a time (that is, the other day), we went to see the Fashion Institute of Technology's latest exhibition, Fairy Tale Fashion. Fly, little darlings, to see this wonderful show. You have until April 16, after which you might turn into pumpkins.

Little wonder that the cover page for the exhibition's pamphlet is of Red Riding Hood (photo by Eugenio Recuenco for Vogue Novias). Not only is it one of the best known of the fairy tales, the red cloak is easily translatable to the style of just about any period.

This is so true that as visitors enter the exhibition, they are greeted by five red capes of different periods (as well as a wolf in grandma's nightgown. The wolf mask might be by Wintercroft. Buy and make your own here.)

The last cape, by Comme des Garcons, cannot possibly be appreciated in our photographs, so here's one taken on the runway. The focus of the show was on fairy tales as design inspiration. For the most part, labels at the exhibition explained the references, and did not give details about the materials, so we can't tell you what this was made of.

Beauty and the Beast was another source of inspiration. At the bottom right of the photograph, a video screen plays Jean Cocteau's 1946 La Belle et La Bete (see it here). In the center of the tableau are two mannequins dressed in the manner of the characters in the movie.

The most fun items in the tableau, however, might be the Louboutin shoes painted like lions' paws, with fur and claws, but if you look closely you'll also notice that the toe box has been shaped for four large rounded toes, as if a lion might actually wear them. Somebody, make these in FLATS, please!

This costume, by Japanese designer Hideki Seo, and located in the Alice in Wonderland section, is entitled Queen of Hearts. One of the most outlandish pieces in the exhibition, it is very much in keeping with the Japanese trend in cosplay, or costume play. The brilliant graphics recall the playing cards in the book. One very interesting feature of the design is the use of zippers. Each of the cushions in the skirt has a zipper all the way down the center (for easy removal of the padding, for storage?), and there is also a zipper down the center of the shirt.

In a section entitled The Little Mermaid is this mermaid dress, by Thierry Mugler for his 1989 Atlantis collection. It has Mugler's trademark unconventional details, such as the points at the top of the bodice, and the scales (gills?) that are not simply drawn on, but cut and sewn into the design.

Several dresses also had swan themes. Left to right, Jean Louis Sabaji's dress appears to be feathered, but is actually made of strips of frayed fabric; Giles' dress was inspired by an automaton of a swan crafted in 1773; and the tutu of Undercover's dress, which recalls Swan Lake, was "printed, painted and laser-cut".

No collection of fairy tales would be complete without mention of Cinderella. The low lighting of the exhibition hall could not do justice to this deliberately patched and fringed 1971 Giorgio di Sant'Angelo dress, so we borrowed a stock photo from FIT to better show it off. Women of a certain age will remember the great craze for ethnic design, chamoix and the hand-made look in the 70s, all of which are evident here.

The updated Cinderella (Giles, 2012) is also in tatters, but made from synthetic material that stands up to what appear to be acid or burn-derived holes in the fabric.

Below, Yoshiki Hishinuma is a master at transforming material distress into an integral part of the design. The label reads: "...made from sheer fabric coated with white film, torn by hand to create fringe. Heat was then applied to the dress, resulting in a crimped and uneven texture." (Double click for greater detail.)

Snow White's evil stepmother plotted to arrange her death once she realized Snow White was fairer than she. Fans of the Disney version remember the wicked stepmother was the queen famous for asking her mirror "Who's the fairest of them all?" Although the stepmother ordered the huntsman to murder Snow White, he took pity on her and left her in the forest where she made her way to the seven dwarfs' cottage. This spectacular hand-painted gown by Dolce and Gabanna captured the glamour of the tale.

The evil stepmother made three additional attempts to kill Snow White, the first of which involved lacing her stays too tightly, to suffocate her. FIT exhibited two sexy corset dresses underscoring the seductive nature of asphyxia, one in purple by Dolce and Gabanna from 2014 and a second in red by Peter Soronen from 2007.

Another attempt by the wicked stepmother involved arranging Snow White's hair with a poisoned comb. The ivory Rick Owens dress on the right incorporated a regal upturned collar and dramatic poisoned comb headpiece. On the left, Rodarte's dramatic 2008 gown with long, draping train of Snow White's signature colors of white, red and black was constructed to resemble the appearance of blood in water.

They say that the third time is the charm. As a result of the evil stepmother's third try, Snow White took a bite of the poisoned apple and lapsed into a coma. This luscious red and green crystal minaudiere by Judith Leiber was given pride of place in the exhibition.

Snow White's lesser known sister was Rose Red. Both were named for rose bushes in their mother's garden. Although also sweet natured, Rose Red was higher spirited than her sister, preferring to frolic in the fields rather than do her chores. The unrestrained rose appliques on the skirt and jacket help temper the tailoring of her 2013 Thom Brown ensemble. Appearing with her is the Bear Prince. Despite his frightening appearance, the prince-cum-bear became a cherished friend of both sisters. No less than milliner Stephen Jones is responsible for the bear-shaped headpiece, which was one of a series of animal-inspired pieces which were paired with Thom Brown tailored suits as part of his 2014 collectionl

Many may be familiar with Hans Christian Anderson's story The Red Shoes thanks to the famous film starring Norma Shearer. The fairy tale itself lay down the back story of a poor young girl named Karen, adopted by a rick old woman, who became so obsessed with a pair of red shoes worn by a princess that she tricked the old woman into buying her a pair meant for an earl's daughter. To compound the crime, she wore them to her first communion. (The hussy!) Worse still, she left behind the gravely ill old woman and wore the shoes to dance at a ball. Try as she might, at the end of the evening, Karen could neither stop dancing nor remove the shoes. In the movie version, she danced herself to death. In the gorier fairy tale, the only way for her to be freed from her crimson footwear was for an executioner to chop off both of her feet at the ankle. Yikes!

The tale specifically described red shoes fashioned from Moroccan leather, which, because of its suppleness, was used in the 19th century for bookbinding and footwear. Since bright red was an extremely difficult color to produce prior to the creation in the mid-1880s of chemical dyes, the red shoes in the story would have been particularly rare and luxurious. Pictured are the pair of circa-1805 red Moroccan leather shoes featured in the show.

Of particular interest to us was the Shoe Hat created by Stephen Jones which featured red satin toe shoes, a miniature version of the ones worn by Norma Shearer in the movie.

In many of the illustrations of Hans Christian Anderson's Snow Queen, she was portrayed in white fur. The mannequin in the exhibit was draped in a hooded cape by J. Mendel, comprised of six different pelts.

Despite the fact that she was shown wearing white, the Snow Queen was essentially an evil character. This Jean Paul Gaultier 2-piece evening outfit captured more of the Snow Queen's dark side.

According to the show's signage, snowflakes were linked to the "frigid mathematical perfection" of the Snow Queen's world. Symmetrical snowflakes cascading down this dress by Alexander McQueen were a beautifully constructed allegorical reference.

In this fairy tale, a demon shattered a mirror that he created to magnify bad things while distorting and shrinking the good things. Some of the shards became lodged in the eye and heart of a boy named Kay, turning him from nice to nasty. The Snow Queen endeared herself to him and then spirited him away to her castle, leaving his friend Gerda to launch an intensive search for him. Mirrors in fairy tales represent vanity, frivolity and affluence. In the Snow Queen, the shattering of the demon's nasty mirror into "millions and billions of bits" begot the superstition of bad luck associated with broken mirrors. Like this 2014 Tom Ford dress, the broken pieces also had a strange beauty of their own.

These 2011 shoes by Andreia Chaves were titled Invisible Shoes since their reflections helped them blend into their surroundings.

Jean's favorite tale by Charles Perrault involved one about a fairy who disguised herself first as a peasant and then as a rich woman in order to beguile two sisters and offer each a gift. The kind sister's resultant gift was to have flowers and gems spill from her lips whenever she spoke. Conversely, the mean sister was cursed to have snakes and toads spring from her mouth. Yoshiki Hishinuma's dress on the far left was constructed of sheer white polyester dress with a snake scale pattern which was coated and heat-processed to create a flaking, snakeskin-like appearance. The middle dress by Alexander McQueen was from his Spring 2010 Plato's Atlantis collection. The evening gown on the right was by Giles from his Spring 2015 collection.

We couldn't end without mentioning the wonderfully evocative scrims created for FIT's exhibition. Below is the backdrop for the "Fairies" section, meant to conjure up the deep woods, and the magical, mystical, sometimes malevalent creatures that inhabit it.

This scrim forms the backdrop for The Wizard of Oz section (a video of the 1939 movie is playing just to the left of the red dress). The tall slim buildings are probably meant to evoke the Emerald City.

Perhaps most fun of all was the backdrop for Alice in Wonderland, with a view down the very deep rabbit hole. (Note the rabbit at the center, wearing a hilarious dress [in neoprene?] of playing cards, by Manish Arora.)

To quote The Beast from La Belle et La Bete, as he mounted his beautiful white steed:

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GROWING OLD WITH VERVE
‘Growing old gracefully’ is an outdated concept. We prefer ‘growing old with verve’. This blog documents our efforts to live up to that motto, in photos and essays. We embrace our gray hair, while sharing the playground nicely with our younger siblings. Bette Davis was right when she said 'growing old is not for sissies', but it’s also not one of Dante’s circles of hell. Idiosyncratic Fashionistas explores what’s out there for Women of a Certain Age, comments on what’s not out there, and demonstrates that our overlooked demographic is still fabulous.
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